Trusting God: He Listens When We Do
“They were helped in fighting them, and God delivered the Hagrites and all their allies into their hands, because they cried out to him during the battle. He answered their prayers, because they trusted in him. ” 1 Chronicles 5: 20.
This passage is talking about how the Reubenites, Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh conquered their enemies in battle. Not because they had greater military might or prowess. But simply because they trusted Him.
I want to focus on the second part of this verse: “He answered their prayers, because they trusted in him“. In other words, He answered their prayer because they walked in His ways. Because they were obedient.
To read the passage for context, click here.
Trusting God Looks Like a Threat
The way we express trust is by obedience to God’s ways. His ways often look like a threat to our well-being. Therefore, if I’m going to walk in them, I need to trust that God is going to somehow meet my need, protect me and take care of me.
I need to believe He will protect me from the threat I’ve exposed myself to by my obedience. God listens to those who listen to Him.
1 John 3: 21, 22 tells us “If our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God and whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him”.
In order to have our prayers answered we need to trust. And we reveal trust by obedience.
Years ago, one of the things God put on my heart to overcome my work-related anxiety was to work more. I only worked two days a week because my job caused debilitating panic attacks.
I was (still am) a nurse. This looked like a threat to my well-being because I was terrified of making a mistake and getting in trouble again at work.
Panic Anxiety on My Job
I was a new nurse and I had so much panic anxiety that it affected my ability to think clearly on the job.
I didn’t show up for work when I was on the schedule for a holiday, I took the keys for the medication cart home and no one could reach me for several days (before cell phones were common). And I didn’t chart a patient fall.
And if I worked more, I would have more opportunities to make mistakes. So, in order for me to obey that, I had to trust that God would help me. I had to believe He would keep me from making mistakes and getting in trouble. And He did.
He also delivered me of my anxiety as I trusted Him. As I expressed trust by obedience, God answered my prayers about the anxiety and incompetence on my job.
Actually, although He delivered me of the anxiety, I continued to get in trouble for various things over several months. My faith was being tested. But then the two managers who wrote me up and didn’t think I was a good nurse quit within two months of each other.
This was a great relief to me because I felt as though they were watching me more closely than the other nurses by this time. It was to the point where I might be called out for something the other nurses were guilty of too. But when they did it, it went unnoticed.
Trusting God in Times of Peace
If we want a Fortress, a Stronghold, a Deliverer in times of war, we need to trust in times of peace. I wasn’t being overcome by anxiety the moment God put it on my heart to work more. I made the decision in a peaceful, tranquil moment.
But it was this decision made in a time of peace that delivered me in the battle. Because it was an expression of trust.
To read another post related Trusting God: God Listens When We Do, to see Being Faithful: Why the Little Things Matter.
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